Ordered arrays of materials on substrates are useful in a large number of applications. Ultra-high density arrays of nanoscale elements promise significant advancement in future technologies ranging from magnetic storage to opto-electronics to thermoelectric cooling. However, the parallel fabrication of well-ordered arrays in a controlled manner has proved difficult.
Approaches based on porous aluminum oxide (Anopore™), ion-track-etched polycarbonate (Nuclepore™), ion-track-etched mica, and other approaches, have been attempted. Examples of these are disclosed by Mitchell et al., in “Template-Synthesized Nanomaterials in Electrochemistry,” Electroanalytical Chemistry, A. J. Bard and I. Rubinstein, Eds., 21, (1999), 1–74; Strijkers et al., in “Structure and Magnetization of Arrays of Electrodeposited Co Wires in Anodic Alumina,” J. App. Phys., 86, (1999), 5141; Han et al., in “Preparation of Noble Metal Nanowires Using Hexagonal Mesoporous Silica SBA-15,” Chem. Mater., 12, (2000), 2068–2069; Whitney et al., in “Fabrication and Magnetic Properties of Arrays of Metallic Nanowires,” Science, 261, (1993), 1316; and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,961 for “Nanopost arrays and process for making same,” to Tonucci et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,165 for “Arrays of semi-metallic bismuth nanowires and fabrication techniques therefore,” to Chien et al.